Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History

A centerpiece of Pacific Grove's intellectual life almost since its founding, the Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History is dedicated to interpreting the natural history of Monterey County. Children can often be found playing on the life-sized whale sculpture located outside its doors.

History

The seeds of the Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History began with the collections of botany instructor Mary E.B. Norton and Professor Josiah Keep, who founded the Chautauqua Museum in the 1880s. The collection soon outgrew the small octagonal building that housed it, and the current Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History was constructed in 1932.

Exhibits

The Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History offers information on everything you could want to know about the natural history of Monterey County, and it's all free! Learn about the Esselen, Ohlone, Salinan, and other native tribes who once lived on the Monterey Bay. See a killer whale's skeleton and a humpback whale's giant jawbone in the Cetacean Room - or get up close and personal with the life-size gray whale sculpture, "Sandy," at the front door.

Children can have a hands-on lesson about the underground animals of Monterey County by crawling through the burrow in the Children's Touch Gallery. Other permanent exhibits of the Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History feature native plants, animals and geology. Frequently changing temporary exhibits show even more exciting information about plants, animals and sea life of the region.

Education and Outreach

An on-site education program is available for group visits at no cost to Monterey County schools. The Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History also has an education outreach program, which provides in-class instruction for schools on the Monterey Peninsula.

Visiting Information

The Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Admission is $8.95 for adults and $5.95 for youth 4-18, students and military with ID. All Monterey County residents, youth under 3 and all school field trips are free. Additionally, admission is free for everyone the last Saturday of every month. See the official Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History website for information on special exhibits and events.

Map and Directions

From Monterey, follow Lighthouse Avenue northwest. At David Avenue, it will become Central Avenue. The Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History is located at the intersection of Forest Avenue and Central Avenue.